Continue to Site

Welcome to our site!

Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

  • Welcome to our site! Electro Tech is an online community (with over 170,000 members) who enjoy talking about and building electronic circuits, projects and gadgets. To participate you need to register. Registration is free. Click here to register now.

Experiences from School

Status
Not open for further replies.

Electroenthusiast

Active Member
Today, I bunked an Exam.

In my school, they wont allow the Datasheets to be used. We need to mug-up the pin details of various IC's, in fact most among us just remember the circuit and its connection without actually designing the circuit in the laboratory exam. Even resistor value are remembered by-heart. So i felt that it's not the way to do, the teacher forbid my datasheets to the lab exam, so i forbidding myself from attending the exam.
It would have been nonsense to do it without Datasheet. Awkward...? Comment

Is there any old experiences like these? Way back from your school. You can share that here, you can comment
 
Depending on the ICs, it is often fairly easy to memorize the pinouts after only using them a few times. The 555 timer, for example, has a fairly straight-forward pinout that does not take long to memorize. What ICs were you supposed to use? Also, resistors often have color codes, which you really NEED to memorize if you're going to work with electronics. IMO, depending on the ICs and how much you have used them, the exam does not seem too unreasonable. It probably wasn't a very good idea to skip it....
 
My opinion is that having to memorise IC pin-outs is rather pointless.
In the real world as distinct from the fantasy which is academia, some you remember if you are using them frequently, otherwise why bother, just look at the datasheet.

Equally, just to have a hissy fit and throw your toys out of the pram by not attending the exam is silly.

Just to emphasise one little point which you may have overlooked, if you dont attend the exam, you are not going to pass it!
Doing the exam without datasheet - you could pass.
Not doing the exam - failed without even trying.

JimB
 
Hey DS8.... Embarrassing.. but I still don't know resistor colours.... Doing this about 25 years now... Anyway. At college, two young girls, doing EEC, never went to one lesson during the two years... Turned up for the exam......Didn't pass, but at least they went for it.
 
Hey DS8.... Embarrassing.. but I still don't know resistor colours.... Doing this about 25 years now...

Haha, sorry Ian. No offense intended :D

It is always a good idea to use mnemonic devices to memorize the color codes. The order actually goes: Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Gray White. I've heard a few in the past, some of which I won't repeat here, but the ones I learned were:

"Bad Booze Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well"

and a slightly more kid-appropriate one:

"Billy Bob Ran Out Yonder Giving Babies Very Greasy Wigs"

After going over these a few times, you get to know the color codes by heart. It took me maybe a week to memorize the color codes, and I'm glad I did. It makes my life so much easier!

Regards,
Der Strom
 
Is that the only reason you skipped a test? Because you didn't agree with the rules? Get used to it, I do things all day long in my job that I don't agree with. Still a great job and a great boss but...

I'd be hard pressed to hire someone who didn't at least have a little respect for authority.
 
I'd say you still have a lot to learn.......and not just in an academic setting.

When you choose to accept a position, whether it be in a learning environment where your test results attest to your proficiency, or a paid environment where you are expected to produce results within previously agreed guidelines, you are not the one who dictates the terms and conditions within which you perform and produce those results.

Your instructor/employer holds that responsibilty and unless you realise why it is that you have terms and conditions attached to your situation, your grades/career-progression will suffer. They are the ones with the knowlege and the authority to certify you as competent enough to reach a particular grade/perform at a particular level, or the ones to write you off due to your lack of performance...

They are essentially separating the wheat from the chaff.

Here's a description for you:
https://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/separate+the+wheat+from+the+chaff.html

By diggin your heels in and refusing to be tested, just because you don't agree with the terms, you are voluntarily placing yourself in the 'chaff' category when you possibly might not even be there had you taken the test and scraped though....

A little advice from someone who wishes he'd paid much more attention at school. Someone the teachers continually expressed frustration at recognised abilities, which were essentially pissed away.... Take the test next time!
 
While I believe walking out on an exam was a foolish move I also fail to understand why data sheets are not permitted. A data sheet is reference material and that is about all it is. For me to even begin to attempt memorizing IC pin outs would be foolish. Today with all the great tools available it is not unusual for me to be sitting at my desk with a software program like Orcad running (or any other design software) and have a half dozen data sheet windows open and minimized on my screen. Not just for pin outs but all of the other important information available in the data sheet.

Just My Take
Ron
 
I agree, Ron. Memorizing color codes is one thing, but I don't think it is necessary for one to memorize everything on the datasheet. Yes, you may end up memorizing it over time, but it is not something that should be forced. I would like to know your teacher's reasoning for disallowing the use of datasheets. Perhaps you could ask and post the answer here?
 
Now I get it, truancy. Back in Jr. HS and HS we had a truant officer. I was on a first name basis with him. :)

Just when I had a handle on bonnet and boot as they pertain to British automotive I am expanding my horizons. This is a fun place.

Ron
 
Last edited:
How times have changed. In the early/mid 1960's we were taking a physics examination. Someone dropped a vial of UF6 in the mass spectroscopy room. That room had the best A/C in the building. It was connected to everything else. It was announced, and we were asked to evacuate. No one moved. We were all too worried about keeping our academic deferments.

I simply can't imagine walking out of an examination because of something I didn't like.

John
 
The real talent rests in reading and understanding datasheets rather then memorizing them.

My idea of a good test would be to hand out a datasheet the students had never seen then ask them questions that they could only answer by understanding the text, diagrams and graphs.
 
My idea of a good test would be to hand out a datasheet the students had never seen then ask them questions that they could only answer by understanding the text, diagrams and graphs.


I believe that's called TEACHING. I've seen some college instructors that just read a book or assign mindless exercises just to fill time. To actually have a passion for imparting knowledge is becoming a rare art.
 
The question is. Did his classmates pass the exam without the datasheet? If they pass the Exam. He made the wrong decision not attending the exam.
 
The question is. Did his classmates pass the exam without the datasheet? If they pass the Exam. He made the wrong decision not attending the exam.

IMHO he made the wrong decision anyway.
 
Reply

...IMO, depending on the ICs and how much you have used them, the exam does not seem too unreasonable. It probably wasn't a very good idea to skip it....
You are right, but that wasn't the only reason to skip the exam. But, it was a point that influenced me the most.

My opinion is that having to memorise IC pin-outs is rather pointless.
...Equally, just to have a hissy fit and throw your toys out of the pram by not attending the exam is silly.

Just to emphasise one little point which you may have overlooked, if you dont attend the exam, you are not going to pass it!
Doing the exam without datasheet - you could pass.
Not doing the exam - failed without even trying.

JimB

Maybe, i was wrong. But, i'm totally confused. I'm thinking of getting dropped-out and finding a job.

...
It is always a good idea to use mnemonic devices to memorize the color codes. The order actually goes: Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Gray White. I've heard a few in the past, some of which I won't repeat here, but the ones I learned were:

"Bad Booze Rots Our Young Guts But Vodka Goes Well"

and a slightly more kid-appropriate one:

"Billy Bob Ran Out Yonder Giving Babies Very Greasy Wigs"

After going over these a few times, you get to know the color codes by heart. It took me maybe a week to memorize the color codes, and I'm glad I did. It makes my life so much easier!

Regards,
Der Strom

I Have another one " BBROY of Great Britain had Very Good Wives ". That's a pretty simple way to rem the Resister Value Codes.

Is that the only reason you skipped a test? Because you didn't agree with the rules? Get used to it, I do things all day long in my job that I don't agree with. Still a great job and a great boss but...

I'd be hard pressed to hire someone who didn't at least have a little respect for authority.

There was some internal politics, among themselves. I used to trouble them in classes, and now they wanna ruin me cos of it.

...
They are essentially separating the wheat from the chaff.

Here's a description for you:
https://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/separate+the+wheat+from+the+chaff.html

By diggin your heels in and refusing to be tested, just because you don't agree with the terms, you are voluntarily placing yourself in the 'chaff' category when you possibly might not even be there had you taken the test and scraped though....

A little advice from someone who wishes he'd paid much more attention at school. Someone the teachers continually expressed frustration at recognised abilities, which were essentially pissed away.... Take the test next time!
Definitely... have to, if at all i continue to study.

While I believe walking out on an exam was a foolish move I also fail to understand why data sheets are not permitted. A data sheet is reference material and that is about all it is. For me to even begin to attempt memorizing IC pin outs would be foolish. Today with all the great tools available it is not unusual for me to be sitting at my desk with a software program like Orcad running (or any other design software) and have a half dozen data sheet windows open and minimized on my screen. Not just for pin outs but all of the other important information available in the data sheet.

Just My Take
Ron

I agree with you Ron.

I agree, Ron. Memorizing color codes is one thing, but I don't think it is necessary for one to memorize everything on the datasheet. Yes, you may end up memorizing it over time, but it is not something that should be forced. I would like to know your teacher's reasoning for disallowing the use of datasheets. Perhaps you could ask and post the answer here?
They just want to make our(students) lives miserable. Nothing i study in class have been helpful to furnish my creativity.

I believe that's called TEACHING. I've seen some college instructors that just read a book or assign mindless exercises just to fill time. To actually have a passion for imparting knowledge is becoming a rare art.

I agree with you, i'm facing the same problem all along my studies. It's a same prob all around the globe, but sometimes i just think like this: "Hasn't the Education system changed?" - Problems Edison faced are still there now.
Education has become something else, but not what it had to be.
 
Maybe, i was wrong. But, i'm totally confused. I'm thinking of getting dropped-out and finding a job.

Not a very good idea. As I frequently tell young and learning types, you may want to rethink that. :)

Figure it this way in the wonderful world of the workplace. For the better part people are compensated (paid) based on their net worth to their employer. The more you know, the more you are worth. Really pretty simple. Now I have no clue how old you are but as you get older, maybe get married and have children, I think you will find it easier to have a family and put beanies and weenies (Food) on the table when supported by a good education. School and education are not designed to be fun, they are merely a path as to where you want to go. The teachers, faculty and staff you may not agree with (yeah, the politics too) amount to a very short period of time in the big picture. The big picture being what it is really all about. Your counter parts who choose to remain in school will fare better than you on average if you choose to drop out. Not everyone can be a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs you know. :)

Ron
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest threads

New Articles From Microcontroller Tips

Back
Top